Spiraeaxc3x97bumalda cultivar Sparkling Carpet.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Spiraea plant, botanically known as Spiraeaxc3x97bumalda, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Sparkling Carpet.
The new Spiraea is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada. The objective of the breeding program is to create compact Spiraeas with unique leaf coloration and few to no flowers.
The new Spiraea originated from a cross made by the Inventor of a proprietary Spiraea selection identified as code number G-DW-80-48, not patented, as the female, or seed parent, with a proprietary Spiraea selection identified as code number G-DW-80-106, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent. The new Spiraea was first observed in 1982 and was selected in 1984 as a single plant from the resulting progeny by the Inventor in a controlled environment in Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada, on the basis of its developing red-colored leaves and yellow green-colored fully expanded leaves.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada since 1984, has shown that the unique features of this new Spiraea are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Sparkling Carpet have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment and culture such as temperature, light intensity and daylength without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Sparkling Carpetxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Sparkling Carpetxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Compact, and low mounding plant habit.
2. Dense and bushy growth habit.
3. Small leaves that are red when developing and yellow green with red margins when fully expanded.
Plants of the new Spiraea differ from plants of the parents and the cultivars Golden Carpet, U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 10/036,935 filed concurrently, and Green Carpet, U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 10/036,936 filed concurrently, primarily in foliage color. 
Plants of the new Spiraea are similar in foliage color to plants of the Spiraea xe2x80x98Flaming Moundxe2x80x99, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada, plants of the new Spiraea differed from plants of the cultivar Flaming Mound in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Spiraea were more compact than plants of the cultivar Flaming Mound.
2. Plants of the new Spiraea had smaller leaves than plants of the cultivar Flaming Mound.
3. Plants of the new Spiraea produced no or only a few flowers whereas plants of the cultivar Flaming Mound produced numerous flowers.
Plants of the new Spiraea can also be compared to plants of the Spiraea xe2x80x98Walbumaxe2x80x99, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,363. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada, plants of the new Spiraea differed from plants of the cultivar Walbuma in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Spiraea were more compact than plants of the cultivar Walbuma.
2. Plants of the new Spiraea and the cultivar Walbuma differed in foliage coloration.
3. Plants of the new Spiraea produced no or few flowers whereas plants of the cultivar Walbuma produced numerous flowers.